Mirrored Memories
by Izzu
Summary: Just another retake on Kakashi's mind on the first volume of the story part. Kakashicentric, Yondaime teamIKakashi team outlook


az: I'm having another mind to do a character digging fic... and Kakashi-centrics is ALWAYS good to write. Since the guy think more than talk...

And the fact that I'm a blood-type B person that I want to write more on a certain Blood-type B person... XDXD

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto manga or anything of it. If I OWNED it... will I be wasting my time here? Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Masashi Kishimoto-sama. Any similar names here that are not canon... are purely coincidental should it happened. Since I think I've heard similar names as that.

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Mirrored Memories

Written by Azzie/Az aka Izumi Ishtar

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The three ANBU safely entered the village quietly as the leader gave one of them a scroll. "Please gave this to Sandaime-sama. Please relay my apologies for not giving it in person." said the man as the other person nodded his head. "Yes sir..." said one of the ANBU as both of them entered the Hokage quarters not far to where they had been standing. Sighing, he jumped onto the roofs and tree branches as he peered into the nearby apartment, on top of one of the larger trees.

Hah... to think that every time he passed the Hokage place that he would drop by here, and made a lot of excuse to come visit regardless of how silly it sounded.

Kakashi took off his mask and let it rest beside the right ride of his head as he cautiously peered towards the only occupant inside of the apartment. Inside, Naruto was busy reading up his class notes as he lift a dumbbell on the other hand. Occasionally, he will put the book and metal piece down as he practiced some of the ninja techniques he learnt. Kakashi smiled as Naruto suddenly exclaimed in frustration.

"Damn! I still can't do it properly! Curse them if I failed to graduate this time too! If they made the jutsu to be Bunshin no Jutsu again it'll be the **second** time I'm failing graduation!" grumbled Naruto as the man felt himself inclined to smirk despite himself. The kid never seemed to know the word giving up. That's good...

Ever since the kid was ten he had tried to participate in the graduation evaluation but often... luck was not on his side.

"Hey... whose house was up there--?" Naruto paused as his ears tensed to hear any bit of the voices from the ground. Kakashi turned around stealthily as he caught the two adults in question. "Ahh... don't bother yourself. It's **his** house." said the other man as the first person noted it and they left, immediately began speaking in hushed voices as they hastily left the vicinity of the Hokage's place. Else... what punishment would they have received if Sandaime had caught them?

Kakashi bit his lips at the abominated display of disrespect towards the kid as he frowned at the general treatment that the poor boy had to receive. Not even Sandaime-sama's orders can make the matter go easier for the kid, it seemed.

"Ignore them. You don't need their approval... anyway."

Kakashi almost fell off the tree before realizing the kid was talking to himself. Thank goodness. If words get out that an ANBU had been found falling off a tree which was him, he won't see the end of the humiliation! "Hah..! I'm hungry--! Where's that ramen cup--?" said the boy as Kakashi felt rather proud of the boy. How long had it been when he had last come here to visit and almost seen the kid to come on the verge of crying before reassuming the cheerful facade after being mistreated by a lady only because he had chosen that day to go down and buy some food supply for himself?

Naruto sure had grown so much for a short time. He never cried or complained over the fate that had been imposed to him unwillingly but instead... by the way he had heard from some of his colleagues, had developed a flair for making pranks. Haha... how much had he missed? The growth of another _monkey_...

Wonder if he should quit ANBU after this? Then, he might be able to watch over the kid more often. Rather than hearing it came from Sandaime or that Iruka guy. After all, those ANBU missions he kept being getting doesn't seem to get any better. Yes... he can handle most of the assassination mission perfectly, but there are times, among some of the more dangerous missions when he had lost men in his team... and regretted himself for remaining in the ANBU division. But then again, being a jounin and kept failing any potential genin graduates for not fulfilling his criteria before this was also a bother.

Ah well... take care for now, Naruto. I'm off for tonight. Icha Icha Paradise is waiting--!

_And it didn't came to him until a year later, this same decision that he might be taking will haunt him again for the same reason he had watched the boy from afar.. and refusing to show his face the moment the kid had been able to think for himself._

XXX

_"Wait for a while here... Kakashi." said the jounin as she patted his shoulders kindly. The boy shrugged at his sensei as suddenly a clumsy blond jounin stumbled into the classroom. "Aah! Shizuka-sensei! Gomen... I was a little late since Jiraiya-sensei had been forcing me to do some extra work that he was lazy to do by himself-- ehh? You said that I'm to take some ninja graduates but where--?"_

_The ninja academy teacher, Kurenai Shizuka pointed towards his side as Minato looked down towards the lone genin graduate, who seemed to be angry of the fact that he had not been noticed. Partly because... he's so._

_Small? Namikaze Minato blinked in wonder as he glanced back towards the kunoichi. "Eh--? Just one kid? Shizuka-sensei, you can't mean-- Don't you at least **trust** me to be a good sensei to-- ouch!" he gasped as the kid kicked him._

_"Hey! Don't underestimate me! I'm a good ninja, you'll see. Just because I'm now five year old you think that I'm so not capable--"_

_Minato looked at the boy with astonishment as the kid fumed at him. He grinned as he suddenly pulled the kid's mask down as Kakashi stared at him in shock, appalled at what had just happened. "Oh... you're an adorable looking one, I say! Silver hair... face mask, you can graduate this young also. You must have been Sakumo-san's only child then. I've heard of you..." said the jounin as Kakashi's face turned red and hastily pulled up his mask again. How dare this oversize monkey of a jounin called him... A-A-A-- ADORABLE!-!-?_

_Shizuka chuckled as Minato grinned at her. "Sorry, Minato. Not much graduates coming out this year and he's the odd one. Maybe after this I'll have some more graduates and I'll get them to fill in for your team--", said the lady as Minato shrugged at her as he stood up, not really minding it. She smiled. "Well, Minato. May I formally introduce you to your new genin student, Hatake Kakashi. You knew his father already so it won't be much problem to handle him. A genius, considering how early he had managed to pass the evaluation. Good luck!", said the kunoichi sensei again as she excused herself._

_Minato leered at the fleeting figure as he scratched his head. He extended his hand towards Kakashi almost apologetically. "Well... Kakashi-kun. I can't say I'm more capable to be teaching you compared to your father but... please bear with me a little longer, kay?"_

_Kakashi cocked his head towards the man known as the Konoha's Yellow Flash. Who's he kidding? Everyone else thought him as the genius among his ranks also._

_Minato shrugged at the kid as if he knew what the kid had been thinking. "I only managed to get at this level because of Jiraiya-sensei's guidance. I'm not much confident in teaching a genius kid myself. It's all hard work for me before...", he confided as Kakashi caught his hand._

_"Don't worry... I can manage it somehow. You're not such a bad guy anyway...", he said as both of them exited the room._

_Minato shrugged nervously as he glanced towards Kakashi._

_"Ne... Kakashi-kun..." Kakashi looked up towards the young jounin as the man chuckled nervously. "What--?", asked the kid as Minato blurted. "Can I carry you on your back--?"_

_Kakashi's face turned red again as he kicked the blond man's leg. "No!", he cried as two men came to greet them. Kakashi's anger immediately subsided as he noticed one of them._

_Hatake Sakumo and Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin stood at the gates as Minato waved at them. "Only one--?", teased Jiraiya as Sakumo grinned at Minato. "Sorry... I had to hand the babysitting of the kid to you--", said the man known as the White Fang as Kakashi glanced towards his new sensei._

_Can't believe that this is a real Jounin by the way he bashfully reacted to the teasing. But hey... not like he'll regret it for being supervised under him..._

_Sooner or later..._

XXX

"So this... is Naruto's house.", Out comes the understatement of the year from him. _Whoa... sure looked different from the inside! _He'd never expected this would be the kind of house that the kid lived in. I mean... apart from the clattered amount of empty ramen cups on the sink that had started to overflow and the trash in that wastepaper basket, the apartment was practically...

Clean and neat. As if the kid had not lived by himself all these years! But then... he probably had a lot of time to spare. Not like he'd spend those times playing with the kids in the neighborhood...

Like he could.

This place sure gave him the nostalgia. After all, this was the same old apartment his sensei had lived in before he got married--

Ah well... better the kid lived here than that other oversized empty house anyway. Wonder what had happened to that place. Kakashi's eyes caught the glimpse of the empty ramen cup and milk carton on the small dining table--

Oh... the guy hadn't cleaned up after breakfast! He picked up the milk carton as he noted the expiry dates. Total befuddlement overwhelmed him! What the--?

This milk went bad a **while **ago. Correction. A good FIVE days ago. Serious... the kid's going to get _pretty_ _sick _today...

"He's a moron, but I think giving him to you is the best. You have a good nose for these types..."

_Hell yeah! If Naruto was no different than his "father"... what kind of horrors would be unleashed?_, thought Kakashi in alarm as he noted Sandaime passing him towards the balcony. _Wait... what did Sandaime MEAN by me having a good **nose** for this types?_

"PLUS--" _Plus? What the hell was ever going to get worse than this...?_

"--your team would have Sasuke of _THAT_ Uchiha clan. Good luck.", came the penultimate death sentence!

He could barely remember how he had fared as a chuunin having paired up with Obito of the Uchiha clan. Naruto was a little like Obito in terms of intelligence and if he had heard correctly about this Uchiha Sasuke...

Damn! This could be troublesome...

_But he probably would FINALLY learn how tough it was to be in Minato-sensei's shoes. Shit... was this **payback** from the afterlife? From HELL itself?_

"Yes sir...", said Kakashi dejectedly as he could do nothing as to object. _Honestly... had him quitting ANBU and retaking his jounin job had been a REALLY good idea anyway? Not like he had been any good before... he practically failed every genin candidate that was unlucky enough to have met him!_

Sure! He had always wanted to be able to watch over Naruto as an anonymous guardian, but this... was like giving him the LEGAL responsibility--!

The door slammed shut on him before he realized that Sandaime had already left.

Kakashi sighed. And he was _supposed_ to meet his genin team today! Ah well... let them wait, thought Kakashi as he threw the expired milk carton into the wastepaper basket. He opened the not so much as stuffed fridge as he looked up the items inside.

Hmm... at least only that milk carton was the _lucky _one. The other stuff in the fridge was at least edible... but for the lack of greens!

Kakashi closed the fridge as he grabbed a large plastic bag and stuffed all of the rubbish inside.

If Minato-sensei was still alive...

He dismissed the thought as he threw the trash outside and left for the ninja academy.

XXX

_The oversized monkey called him again as Kakashi obediently followed him. "Kakashi--! Good news... we finally had new team members! Come and meet them--", said Minato as he had to at least **pretend** to be as excited as the jounin. Not that it'll hurt his pride._

_The sight that met him was... something. A petite brunette and an Uchiha with a goggle. Err yeah...?_

_"Hey there... hope you guys remembered to do as I've told you two yesterday. And let me introduce you two to my pride and honor... Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi... this is Rin and Uchiha Obito...", said Minato as Kakashi coldly greeted them. Rin, the petite looking brunette greeted him shyly as the Uchiha... urgh! Snorted at him... the hell? _

_"See those three logs?", asked Minato as Rin and Obito nodded. The man grinned as he took out two bells tied by strings. "Today you'll be tested whether or not you qualify as a genin. You **three** are to try to get these bells from me using all of the ninja skills you've learnt. Anyone who failed to get it will be tied to those logs and ha-ha... well; you won't be joining me for lunch then! But no worry... unless I see that the person needed more training, I won't send anyone back to the academy..."_

_"Wait... there's only two bells--", said Obito as Kakashi answered simply. "That means one of us going to be tied-- wait a minute! Minato-sensei... you mean, even **I** had to "play" in this training of yours--!-?" cried Kakashi as he gave him a "how-dare-you-include-me-in-the-same-level-as-these-genins look._

_Minato grinned. "Yeah... since I need you to get to know your team mates too." said the jolly Jounin of a monkey (Kakashi really liked to call him that! It rhymed anyway.) as Kakashi fumed, before adding another note towards the remaining genin. "But... unlike Kakashi, the rule about sending anyone back to the academy didn't apply to him. As Kakashi is already a chuunin."_

_Obito gave a cry of disbelief as Kakashi gave him a look of annoyance. "What--? Can't believe it?" asked Kakashi as he thought smoke actually came out of Obito's ears. Or did someone ACTUALLY put a fire talisman between his ears? (Kakashi mentally laughed at this private joke)_

_Minato chuckled as he replaced the strings to his belts. "Okay, the training starts... NOW!" said Minato as all four of them disappeared from sight._

_It didn't take a genius to know the end results after that..._

XXX

Kakashi arrived at the classroom corridors as he noticed the duster latched in between the sliding doors. _And who would have done that--?_, he thought as he already knew the culprit. It seemed that the "chaos of the future impending doom" had already revealed itself. _Haa... well, he **was** late. So... since this is their first day with him, let's just **play**_ _along then._

Kakashi peered inside head first while opening the door wider, resulting in the desired effect. Naruto laughed aloud at this. _Yeah... like father, like son. _Well... he too can play rough! Kakashi held a palm on his chin, making a thoughtful expression. "Hmm... let see. How can I say this? My first impression is... I don't like you guys!"

DUNN... Man, the looks that they have...

PRICELESS!

XXX

He had them introduced themselves while telling them only his name... and nothing else. Naruto... was there anything ELSE he's thinking on his head _other_ than Ramen? Was this the effect of all those ramen he ate? Really... one of these days, he's gonna stuff the kid with more nutritious food! But his dream... Kakashi was impressed. So that's why the kid had learnt to stop crying and working so hard to be a real ninja! Naruto sure had grown in an interesting way...

_Minato-sensei... you must have been proud--_

"Hobbies... pranks, I guess." said Naruto in an air of finality as Kakashi felt like being hit in the gut. Really... what else was NOT similar about the two people? One would think that Minato-sensei and Naruto were more like _identical twins _rather than father and son! The sheer horror-- well, let's get going.

Sasuke... what shall I say about him. Well, he's a bit more on the cold side than how he had once been... and his ambition--

Not like he hadn't expected to hear it coming from the kid. Guess he really needed that good luck that Sandaime said before. This kid... will be a little troublesome to handle. Well, he already had Naruto, so... it can't be any worse, right?

Sakura was-- haii, girls nowadays. Love seemed to be more of their aim in life than being a ninja. Well... he got a new task handling them after all.

And the test on the day after was fun. And interesting...

He was more evil than Minato-sensei after all. It was fun to see the look of the one being tied up while he teased them by eating his lunch in front of them. And it was fun to _play_ with Naruto. And his... _Sennen Goroshi_ was a classic! Really... he hadn't had this much fun ever since he had teased Obito over his goggle-loving attitude and lateness during some of their childhood quarrels.

But at first he thought he would have had to fail them all. None of them actually understand the reasoning on why he had gave them this "training". And the fact Naruto had faced such a difficulty (Hello? He almost died--?) before _just_ to arrive to this stage made him feel troubled. But he don't want later to be said that he had been lenient on the kid...

He'll have to act stern... yeah! He did it before... he can do it now.

Well, let see if things will turn around if he gave them another try at it. Maybe they will have a chance. And it seemed... he was right.

Haha... Looks like he'll finally be going to have a team of young ninjas under him for the first time in his life after all...

XXX

_"Ne... Sandaime-sama! Is there any **other **better missions that you can give us? Yes... I know that D-rank missions are purr-fect for the genins... but Kakashi was a chuunin! And what I'm here? Please...?"_

_The third gave the young jounin a once-over as he gave the most disapproving look. "Minato... you know that **that** was not how it works. You have to work from the bottom..." admonished the old man as the Yellow Flash walked towards his students. "See... even the genins are looking dissatisfied! At least a C-rank. Pretty please...?"_

_Kakashi wanted to roll his eyes until it turned like a spiral as with the kid's namesake for the way he had been acting. Really... other ninjas hadn't been as courageous as **this** jounin-sensei of his..._

_Sandaime shook his head in exasperation as he waved his hand at him. "Okay... I'll give you a C-rank mission."_

_Kakashi looked at the third with surprise as Minato grabbed him in delight. "Yes!-!" cried the jounin as he cheered. And wait a minute...!_

_Put him down!_

XXX

It had been what...? The first, second... fourth mission for the day? And finally, the kid snapped. _And why hadn't it come earlier? _And Sandaime... well, I can understand it. Really...! After all... _grandfathers_ are like that.

He looked down at the kid who had remained on the floor after being hit by him. "Hey... it's a fact anyway. Don't feel so glum..." Suddenly he felt pity for the boy. After all... he had the same level of hyperactivity as someone _else_ he knew...

"Nah... Kakashi-sensei. I'm getting hungry anyway. These stupid mission makes me so hungry-- Last night I had a pork ramen so miso sounds good for--"

"Hey! Listen to what I'm talking--!" cried Sandaime as both Kakashi and Naruto revert their attentions. "Aah... I apologize..."

"Geeez... you always lecture stuff like that every day! But you see... I'm not that troublemaking brat I was before--!" cried Naruto as Kakashi sighed. At this rate... he'd still gonna get yelled at anyway. No. Correction. He was SOOOO going to get yelled at for SURE. Ah well... it's the same thing anyway if he hadn't take the genins under him. Or the fact that he'd get yelled up every time anyway when he was late at something...

And it surprised himself that Sandaime ACTUALLY relented to the boy. We've got a C-rank mission! Felt like deja vu. No, EXACTLY like one! And that... leads to other things that he had never expected to happen in his life.

But that was the start for the kid's dramatic growth as a ninja in general...

XXX

He couldn't have been prouder than ever having them under him. They've faced a lot of challenges after that... but yeah... it was interesting to note how their skills have increased dramatically. Especially Naruto. Though... sorry kid, he had to focus more on Sasuke. Unlike him... Sasuke had more risk in the mental strength department. Sasuke was still bent on taking revenge against his brother, Itachi. And that was... troubling.

He still remembered how he had told that Inari kid from the Wave Country about Naruto. Naruto... had grown in a way that was different from the way people like him had grown up to be. He had been in and out of various countries during his good ol' ANBU days and he had not often met any other people as in Naruto's specific condition, but... he saw how people will change for the worse if thrown into the kind of life Naruto had lived in. The fact that Naruto had already grown up with such a great strength of hearts...

Just... the way how _he_ had lived his life happily. That kind of light... it seemed that it did not die along with him.

XXX

Fond memories... and despite what had happened, he felt being optimistic was just fine with him. They'll get Sasuke back from Orochimaru one day. Until then... the three of them had to get stronger even more.

Kakashi sighed as he placed a palm over Naruto's forehead as the lad slept on the hospital bed. It was a relief to find him still alive when he and Pakkun had arrived to the scene.

Yes... the three of them will be stronger. That's a promise.

After all... Those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash...

Right, Obito?

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az: This is what happened if you had too much free time and had a pension to ditch revision. XP -jumps around- I finished another shot! Whee... I luv one shots!


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